Hockenheim

Hockenheimring Grand Prix Circuit

Hockenheimring

Surface: Asphalt

Circuit Length: 4.574 km (2.842 mi)

Turns:13

Lap Record: 1:13.780 - K Raikkonen, McLaren (2004)

In the early 2000s, F1 officials demanded the 6.823 km (4.240 mi) track be shortened and threatened to discontinue racing there, due to competition from other tracks such as the EuroSpeedway Lausitz and sites in Asia. The state government of Baden-Württemberg secured the financing for the redesign by Hermann Tilke for the 2002 German Grand Prix. The stadium section remained mostly intact, despite a new surface and a tighter Turn 1 ("Nordkurve"). However, the circuit was dramatically shortened, with the long, forested straights section chopped off in favour of more tight corners. In an extremely controversial move, the old forest section was torn up and replanted with trees, eliminating any chance of using the old course either for future F1 events or for historic car events.

The Hockenheim Circuit hosted the German Grand Prix for the first time in 1970 when the F1 drivers decided at the French Grand Prix to boycott the Nürburgring unless major changes were made. The next year the German Grand Prix went back to the Nürburgring until the 1976 German Grand Prix. From 1977 to 2006, the Hockenheimring hosted the German Grand Prix with the exception of 1985, when the race was held at the reconfigured Nürburgring.

Hockenheim race circuit videos

Rubens Barrichello driving for Ferrari takes pole position during this lap on the old Hockenheim circuit

Classic Hockenheim race circuit videos

Hockenheim race circuit information

The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg is a motor racing circuit sited near the German town of Hockenheim. The circuit was built in 1932 using forest roads as a motorcycle racing track and test circuit for Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union. The original circuit was nearly 7km long with an Asphalt/Concrete surface but was extensively redesigned in 2001, being shortened and having the number of turns increased from 16 to 17.